A Wildfire Chronicles Installment
[ Future Technology ]
"I have taught you, my dear flock, [...] how to live, and I will show you in a very short time how to die." — Sandys
File NoteAttch: 1
The document herein was recovered from a partially-corrupted datastick found amongst the wreckage of the Ambrosia Starliner, believed to have been a part of the personal effects carried on-board by the as-of-yet unidentified suicide bomber (identification documents confirmed forgeries) responsible for the atrocity. At this time, forensic data analysis has been unable to discern a name for the document besides that listed in its original file header: "inspiration"; further analysis revealed that while the document originally constituted approximately thirty (30) pages of content, all that remains free from purposeful attempts to corrupt or destroy data within the file is contained below. As of this time, this information has not been cleared for dissemination; please see attachment for further details.
Is it not that they have abandoned you? Is it not apparent that the Galaxy has turned its back upon that which so-called "civilization" believes to be its children? Is it not plain-to-see that this world - this Galaxy, this cosmos, this realm of seemingly infinite creation - is but yet a hell given form all its own? My brothers and sisters, as you make ready to do the work of the Children of Light, I ask you to look within yourselves and, with heartfelt sincerity, question: "Is life just?"
I know from where you sit that to many the answer will seem plain and true. For many of you, months have been spent huddled into cramped cargo containers fearing the next "routine search" will end with your person being flung back into the uncertainty of the depths of space, months locked in a liminal state of nigh un-personhood as one state bickers with the next over petty housing rights and the exact ratio of food-to-water that any of the "displaced" truly needs to survive. Nights-without-end you have spent awake, tormenting yourself over burdens seemingly beyond your control as the heads of one agency speaks on the Galactinet of how truly they wish to assist you, and yet you find your own barely capable of breathing as those very same bureaucrats assign you to yet another habitation block amongst the criminal detritus of the world, left to be made victims by those the state willfully ignores or even arms for the purpose of exacting their prejudice.
I know your hardships, my brothers and sisters; I know what scratches at the back of your mind and I feel the tearing of your hearts as you weep over yet another brother, sister, father, mother, lover lost amidst the red tape of a thousand different worlds, each tugging, each ripping at your very being for agendas all their own. I see them housing you as they applaud their own charity, but I also see them concentrating you out of fear of your righteous anger. I see them arming you for your defense, but I also see them setting you against your own for petty squabbles derived not from vindication or justice, but from barbarous politicking and politesse-of-the-gun. I see them feeding you, and I see them making you slaves to an unjust world that cares only for the fodder you might provide to nourish their corrupt ambition. I see them decry you as "beast" and "vermin" and "criminal," but I see nothing but their own fear, self-loathing, and the slowly dawning realization that their own self-deceit is faltering - their facade is cracked, failing, broken and collapsing around them.
So, again, I ask, "Is life just?"
You know the answer to this question; the only difference between you and the man which says, "Yes," is that you can no longer afford to hide behind the prevarication of necessity. You can no longer afford to say, "Yes," and let your friends, your family, your loved ones wither away under the gilding of a decrepit system. You - and I know this as true, my brothers and sisters - cannot afford to deceive yourselves, for death comes slow to those in the dark, lost, and seeking of a nourishment they know naught. It is a withering, painful, and wasting death, but it comes just as surely as any other; you see it around you, day-in and day-out, and know that, in time, whether by loathsome inaction or barbaric action, it will come and you, too, will face the grinding wheel of this infernal reality.
This doesn't have to be true, however, for there is a way to that nourishment you seek. Just as you know the truth of this inevitability - of this certain consumption by the ill-begotten, pestilent forces of this galaxy, of this world, we all begrudgingly seek to call "home" - I offer you a path from it, away from it, toward a brilliant and resplendent fulgor which cares for your hardship, but not your station. It is an endless radiance which embraces all who seek it, all who follow the path to it, and all who turn away from the pitch of this impure and impious corruption some dare call "creation." Yet, I know, this is not enough; this cannot be enough, for while a paradisaical realm may await, that does little to protect the young and unknowing, the old, or the feeble who are most certainly merely yet to be crushed beneath the boot of a world that seeks naught but their practicality and utility to an end.
Yet, the path to that infinite refulgence offers an avenue to end this suffering. It seeks to provide to all who seek it, to all who cry-out its name in the darkest depths of their desperation, in the abyss of their despair, wishing for an answer. In a word, that infinite unknowing absolute, that primordial spark which asks only for your love, offers you justice.
Embrace this now, and you too will be given the tools to which justice - righteous and pure - may be enacted upon all those whom have erred and made fools of themselves in the veiling of their eyes in impurity and in the clouding of their hearts with the hatred of the pious, the pure, and that-which-is-correct-in-all-things:
- Accept that it is not the state or the church or the agency which is corrupt alone, it is the fabric of creation - of reality itself - within which they all sit;
Accept that impiety, impurity, and infernal machination against you, your own, and all whom seek to be your kin-in-reverence is naught short but a crime against the divine and the virtuous chain-of-light which sits above and casts judgment upon the broken and decrepit and false shackles of creation which need not bind you;
Accept that life in this world - in this hell crafted from the depths of despair and envy - can never be just without justice brought to it by word, banner, and blade, and that all those whom seek to act against this - those who seek to revel in this despair - are ignorant of this truth and, despite their errs, deserve the blessing of final mercy;
And, at last, with open arms, long-for and welcome the coming endless, absolute scintillation which will bring an end to this accursed prison which encapsulates and incarcerates your immortal purity and inviolability.
Yet, now, there are others who seek to roll and toil and raise to apotheosis this same degeneracy and sickening affliction. They assign you your home, your new prison-within-a-prison, and demand of you gratitude. They are the ones who press their boot upon your throat and expect the wheezing song which comes from your lips to only be praises in their name. They are the ones who stand beside you in the habitation block and act as the eyes and ears and ever-watchful parasites which work at the behest of those who expect and demand and yet play you against your own and send you naught but scraps from a table high upon a mountain. They are the refugee camp discipline overseers, the bureaucrats who piddle-away your own physical necessity for the sake of saving that overseer yet one more tax credit, the collaborator who speaks from both sides of his mouth and sings two different songs - these are all the clergy of this affliction, of this hell-world, of this impurity deified.
Even so, I offer you a solution. I offer you the path to the escape of this devilry. I offer you the knowledge - the enlightenment - which will bring your spark aflame and ignite within you purpose, impetus, and the tools that HE willfully grants unto HIS own to enact this justice - demanded and foretold. I give you the key to your own destiny, and I offer you naught but the wisdom and knowledge as to how to use it. In a word, I offer you hope. I offer you an end to this injustice, to this squalor, and to this decaying world.
Yes, my brothers and sisters, life is unjust, but that can be changed.
Attachment: Recovered Datastick Forensic Analysis
Case Number 56509-26-044A(E306b), No Action Currently Recommended
Since the original recovery of the document as-of-yet known only as "dat.file06" or "inspiration," further data analysis of the recovered datastick has yielded some greater degree of information. This has lead the investigation unit to tentatively reach several conclusions regarding both the attack on the Ambrosia Starliner and the nature of the resurgence of the organization hitherto known as "Wildfire." The investigation unit must caution, however, that such conclusions are as-of-now only tentative and subject to change as this investigation continues. In this attachment, first the investigation unit will elaborate on further information recovered from the datastick and conclusions reached by such information, and secondly conclusions which can tentatively be reached on the nature of "Wildfire."
First, forensic data analysis has uncovered a single name, currently believed to be a given name, which may in fact be the given name of the suicide bomber aboard the Ambrosia. This name is "Shu'traii." Current linguistic analysis of this name yields no positive results with any degree of certainty, though further data recovered from the datastick seems to confirm previous conclusions: namely, "Shu'traii" appears to be a displaced person (refugee) from the the northern sectors of the Gamma Quadrant, likely displaced due to ongoing conflicts in these sectors. The recovery of a partial journal (dat.file12; provenance currently unconfirmed) seems to indicate "Shu'traii" traveled from an as-of-yet unidentified system approximately twenty-eight (28) parsecs from the Sol Meridian (boundary between the Gamma and Delta Quadrants); from there, he is believed to have briefly passed through the Liu Xiu Special Economic Zone with the journal seeming to indicate he may have stayed within the Liu Xiu System for as little as eight (8) days. From there, he traveled down the Lanthine Lee (as a part of the Solarian Trade Corridor) before the journal ceases to produce information of a qualitative nature.
Based upon the information recovered, it is believed that "Shu'traii" likely passed through the Liu Xiu Special Economic Zone several weeks after the destruction of the Jiwao Skylift. It is believed sometime following this, possibly during his transit through the Lanthine Lee, that "Shu'traii" may have been radicalized. Whether this is due to some parties affiliated with the "Wildfire Season" or an instance of self-radicalization is unknown.
Secondly, while a single name has been recovered, a pseudonym or possible nom de guerre was recovered from a single document (dat.file02) that seems to contain no further information and is, remarkably, nearly entirely free from corruption. This pseudonym is simply "Firebrand." At this time, the investigation unit is unable to reach any conclusions as to the possible importance or relevance of this pseudonym, nom de guerre, or title.
Third. While there are several other dat. files located on the datastick, most are currently believed to be irrecoverable. There is one exception, however, which forensic data analysts seem to have been able to recover. This file is titled "gate" and known as "dat.file01"; the document contains what appears at first glance to be a Galactinet hyperlink: gct::g0r.akad-ra.ilu/dr4/ftvs33-a09.wild/2411-login. Further analysis uncovered what was originally believed to be an incorrectly parsed or corrupted header ("gct::" rather than "gcnt::") in actuality appears to link to a superluminal liquid-modem anisible service network; in other words: a superluminal, interstellar information network which is distinct from the Galactinet, but which seems to be constructed in such a way to be readily obscured or otherwise inaccessible to the average Galactinet user. Connecting to this network immediately lead to numerous failed connections; after approximately 200 attempts to access gct::g0r.akad-ra.ilu/dr4/ftvs33-a09.wild/2411-login, the investigation unit was able to successfully connect to the gct:: network, but was immediately redirected to a page stating, simply, "The page you are attempting to access does not exist or has been removed. Please contact Galactinet Technical Support."
"Galactinet Technical Support" linked to the domain gcnt::galactinet.tech/assistance-help, a legitimate technical support site meant to provide assistance to users having difficulties with Galactinet-based webpages or other technical difficulties. Contacting Galactinet Technical Support revealed that gct:: is not a Galactinet-reserved header and they have no knowledge of the aforementioned website or liquid-modem service network.
At this time, the investigation unit has been unable to access the aforementioned webpage or, in truth, any page on the gct:: mirror network. Attemps to astrolocate the liquid-modem, liquid-router, or liquid-server support systems meant to provide hosting services to this network have been mired by false positives and what can tentatively be presumed to be an advanced system designed to directly sabotage reverse astrolocation attempts.
This concludes the investigation unit's current analysis of the datastick. What follows are conclusions reached regarding the nature of the resurgence of "Wildfire."
Firstly, while the investigation unit cannot determine with absolute certainty, it is currently believed that "Shu'traii," "inspiration," and the associated information collected from the datastick indicates that there may be a tentative link between the Wildfire of the "Wildfire Season" and the new "Wildfire." That being said, given what publicly available information has been released by the Imperial Star Republic regarding their investigation, whether or not this link is direct or indirect is unknown. The investigation unit believes it is safe to assume that despite best efforts in the very least Wildfire's "message" has been passed on to a new generation or layer of "Wildfire."
Secondly, based on the usage of an interstellar information network distinct from the Galactinet, the investigation unit believes that "Wildfire" may have adopted a cell-based superstructure. If such is the case, then "Wildfire" is no longer confined to a single organizational unit or, possibly, even a single hierarchy; as such, "Wildfire" may have evolved to consist of numerous cells - possibly operating amongst displaced populations and other "disaffected persons" in statistically abnormal numbers - which may have little-if-no direct contact to one another. This seems to imply that "Wildfire" is operating solely on a "lone wolf" or "self-radicalized individual or group" system without some greater oversight; however, based upon the document "dat.file06," the investigation unit believes that while a command hierarchy may strictly be nebulous or based entirely upon personal motivation, there is likely to be one (1) or more "philosophical core cells" which are responsible for the dissemination of the "Wildfire" philosophy.
Third. Despite previous assumptions, the investigation unit is confident in stating that "Wildfire" is not simply an anti-capitalist or anti-corporatist terrorist organization, but seems to be united by a religious or spiritual philosophy which while carrying such sentiments, ultimately believes their direct targets to be merely symptoms of a "corrupt reality" that seems to exist solely to "imprison" its adherents.
Lastly, due to both the degree of complexity uncovered in the forensic data analysis of the datastick and due to the severity of the Ambrosia Starliner's destruction, the investigation unit is unanimously certain of one thing: "Wildfire" seems to be state-supported.